Benefits for Office Building
Green Strategies for Office Unit
z
Simple daily tips such as “manag-
ing paper and office equipment
consumption” can effectively
reduce waste in the office
z
Motor vehicles are one of the
major sources of carbon emis-
sions. A transport plan can be
organised to minimise vehicle
use as well as business travel
costs
z
Food waste management can be
implemented in the office in or-
der to help solve the basic food
waste problem – to reduce and
prevent food waste at source
Waste Management
Overview
Managing Paper and Equipment Consumption
Simple daily tips to effectively reduce waste in office, e.g.:
• Encourage staff to adopt single-side used paper, double-side printing
and electronic mail
• Print only if hard copy is necessary and include a green slogan in
internal email, e.g., “please consider the environment before printing
this email.”
• Upload and download documents through the internet platform
• Apply technology to paper saving, e.g., paper cut sensors on printers
which assist in estimating printing costs and records the amount
printed by each staff member
• Create a ranking table for the printing record among staff members to
provide self-incentive to control paper use
• Place recycling bins in offices to separate and collect used paper and
toner cartridges, etc. for recycling
• Switch off electrical appliances when not in use
• Fix or refurbish the equipment rather than replace it
• If replacing equipment, consider that someone may need it and donate
the equipment to the needy
Food Waste Management
• Divide and compost food waste for recycling (it is suggested that
information on what food can be composted is provided to tenants/
staff members)
• Donate surplus food (e.g., fruit provided by the company) to charities,
such as Food Angel (refer to
)
• Reuse food waste which itself can be a fertiliser, such as eggshells
z
Resources use incurs cost, so
cost can be minimised if waste
can be reduced
z
Successful example of imple-
menting waste management:
- Johnson & Johnson, an inter-
national health care company,
firstly introducedwastemanage-
ment programme in 1988 which
had conduced to save materials
costs at $2.8million. On average,
2,750 tons packaging have been
reduced annually, main strate-
gies include reduction in paper,
plastic, metal, etc. (Source: EPA)
z
Waste management shall
contribute to both creating a
green environment and saving
operating cost
tea-leaves and coffee grounds
(refer to Low Carbon Living,
available at
• Provide storage to tenants/
staff members for keeping food
waste (e.g., food scrap buckets)
before throwing it into the
compost facility or sending it to
a recycling centre/organisation
Transport Plan
A transport plan can be
organised as an initiative to
minimise vehicle use as well as
business travel costs, e.g.:
• Encourage employees to travel
by public transport
• Encourage the use of
communication technologies,
e.g. emails and video-
conferencing
• Promote vehicle sharing
• Use fuel-efficient vehicles
and electric cars and consider
whole-life costs
• Control the frequency of
transport delivery
Read more at:
Mar 2009) “Green Office Resource Guide”, available at
2. US EPA, (1993) “Business Guide for R
ational Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)”, EPA
publication no. 530K92004, available at
OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT STAGE
4.1.4 Waste Management
Benefits for Office Building
Waste Management
Overview
Green Purchasing
• Purchase products made from recycled materials and reusable products
• Purchase certified energy saving equipment and appliances
• Encourage suppliers to improve their logistic strategies for reducing
carbon emissions during delivery
• Introduce bulk purchasing so as to reduce packaging and delivery costs
Resources Sharing
• Establish a platform for sharing reused resources, including office
equipment, furniture and fitting-out materials
• Join HK G-Share, which is an e-platform established by Hong Kong
Green Building Council to allow resources sharing by the public. Two
established sharing platforms are:
ͳͳ Domestic Resources Sharing Platform: public users are encouraged to
donate resources which can be reused for domestic use
ͳͳ Building and Construction Resources Sharing Platform: public users
can share or sell construction materials and resources which can be
reused for construction purposes
ͳͳ Registration and details can be obtained from the link to HK G-Share:
Waste Management during Fitting-Out
• Separate demolition waste by category for recycling and introduce
covered wheelie bins for temporary storage
• Do not allow contractors to discharge waste water and associated
effluent or dissolved materials into any drains without installation of
proper sediment traps
z
A green procurement policy can
be implemented for the sake of
waste management in the office
z
The collected data can help track
consumption behaviour from
time to time and to figure out
areas for improvement
z
Waste management can be
implemented during fitting-out
z
Resources sharing platforms
allow sharing of useful resourc-
es which can be reused by the
needy. Life span of products will
be extended and users will be
encouraged to adopt sustainable
practices
z
Thedataon resources consumed
in the office should be collected
and analysed in order tomanage
resources efficiently
z
Checking invoices and sub-me-
tering are some feasible ways to
collect the data
• Control of water consumption.
Check for any leakage so as to
ensure the water-consuming
equipment works effectively.
Also monitor consumption by
sub-meters or water-consuming
equipment or by inspection.
Measuring and Monitoring
• Regularly review relevant
procedures to ensure
compliance with the
• Monitor recycling performance
and identify areas for
improvement
• Ensure compliance by cleaning
and recycling contractors
• Hold periodic meetings
for reviewing the current
effectiveness of waste
management
Note: more strategies can be
referred to below link of Worldwide
Responsible Accredited Production
(WRAP) “Business Resources Efficiency
Guide – Green Office: A Guide to
Running a More Cost-Effective and
:
Read more at:
1. Queensland Health (Mar 2009) “Green Office Resource Guide”, available at
green_office_guide.pdf
Figure 4.1.15 HK G-Share, an e-platform allowing resources sharing in the public.
(Source: HK G-Share of Hong Kong Green Building Council)
OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT STAGE
4.1.4 Waste Management
Office
UNIT
Office
BUILDING
Office
UNIT
Office
BUILDING
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